ACM SIGMOD/PODS Conference: Vancouver, 2008
Delegates: Tours

Vancouver is the largest city in the province of British Columbia, and integral part of the third largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a total population of over 2 million. Surrounded by spectacular natural beauty, and recognized as one of the most livable cities in the world, Vancouver offers its visitors an impressive range of attractions.

Get ready! In June, you should expect long days (16 hours of daylight) and mild temperatures (21℃/69F): ideal conditions for exploring this great city!

Stanley Park, including the Vancouver Aquarium, the area around Lion's Gate Bridge, Coal Harbour, English Bay, and the Stanley Park Seawall (which starts near the SIGMOD conference site). The seawall is great for walking, cycling, or inline skating (rollerblading). Walkers have their own lane on the seawall, keeping them separate from the cyclists and skaters.
Here is an aerial view of Stanley Park, provided by Wikipedia. You can click on the image twice to enlarge it, and you will see the surrounding areas, including the Lion's Gate Bridge and even the City of West Vancouver's seawall in the upper left hand side of the photo. A vertical line drawn through the Vancouver Aquarium dot on the image would intersect the Westin Bayshore (SIGMOD conference site), which lies between the marinas at the bottom of the photo.

Landsea Tours Ltd.Daily scheduled tours of Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler, the North Shore mountains, and the City Highlights tour. They'll pick you up from Vancouver hotels in 24-passenger buses

Vancouver Trolley Company. Narrated sightseeing throughout the day. They offer loop tours of Vancouver's major attractions, parks, and shopping areas, including Chinatown and Gastown. Get on/off at 26 stops, or stay on board for the whole circuit.

Victoria (by seaplane, or car/bus + ferry: It takes 45 minutes from downtown Vancouver, in light traffic, to get to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen, then (hopefully) an hour or less wait for the Swartz Bay ferry, then 1.5 hours of beautiful scenery while sailing across Georgia Strait and between the Gulf Islands. From the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, it's about 30 minutes to get to Victoria.

Visit Downtown Victoria with its waterfront and the BC provincial Parliament Buildings.

Norwegian Sun cruise leaving Sunday, June 1st (before the conference, but back in time for the conference)

Contact your local travel agent or UNIGLOBE Advance Travel for special rates on air travel and/or pre- or post-conference travel.

Rocky MountainRail or Bus Tours - The Canadian Rockies are among the most spectacular tourist attractions in North America. It takes about 1 day (about 10-12 hours worth of driving, with rest/food stops) to get from Vancouver to Banff/Calgary. You can get there by car, bus, or train. The highway between Banff and Jasper offers fabulous scenery in the Canadian Rockies. Plan to spend time in the towns of Banff and Jasper, with plenty of stops along the way, such as, Roger's Pass, Yoho National Park, Lake Louise, Columbia Ice Fields, etc. More info.